Invasive Speices control

[Co-opski]

I was out the other day and I saw that a relatively new to south central Alaska exotic invasive species is moving around the road system. The white sweet clover Metilous officinalis ssp. alba and reed canary grass Phalaris arundinacea are some of the bad ones. The USDA's Invasive Exotic Weed website lists 427 species of noxious plants in the US with millions of acres of land irreparably altered or harmed by invasive plants. It also mentioned that roads are one of the fastest avenues for the non-native plants to move in. At work we have to pressure wash all the dirt of our rigs before we move them into a new area. This is to get all the "hitchhiking" seeds off the rigs. I have started to take more precaution in my own truck and washing the dirt off ASAP.

Have other Expo members noticed non-native plants in their areas?

What other tips would one have for the stop of these plants on our lands?

How many wash their trucks with this in mind? I only started recently.

 

[goodtimes]

We do have some invasive species here in the Sonoran desert....more than many know of (my girlfriend is a "native nazi"--so I hear about it every time she spies any).

I typically don't wash my jeep or motorcycle to often...but before I leave on a trip that takes me out of the region, I stop at the coin-op car wash and clean off the chassis. Same rule applies when returning.

During our recent Trans American Trail trip, Scott and I washed the bikes every couple days due to the amount of mud and heavy vegitation we crossed.

 

[Ursidae69]

This is a great topic, thanks for bringing it up. Invasive species are hard to control. The chinese elms in my landlord's yard drop millions of seeds every spring, so how do you control that?

Like you all said, I also simply wash the truck's undercarriage a bit before I travel to new places around my state or around the southwest.

I've also heard of some vehicles coming back from Mexico that are muddy actually get turned around by border guards, because they do not want the potential seeds in the mud coming into the US. Something to think about.

 

[Co-opski]

I never thought about border crossing. I could see it being a big hassle in a remote area to was a truck but they are only doing their jobs.

At what point do you just accept a plant as colonized like the Dandelion?

The hardest part may be what you pointed out here.

The chinese elms in my landlord's yard drop millions of seeds every spring, so how do you control that?

These plants produce lots of seeds and from what I've read with the sweet clover the seeds can last in the soil for 80 years. Most of the techniques used are just as nasty as the plants themselves; i.e. introducing another species to eat the plant, chemical spraying, or mechanical removal.

 

[Rallyroo]

I've been on some trails where washing stations are provided with mandatory rules to wash off the under carriage of the vehicle before you can continue on.

 

[Rallyroo]

Not vehicle related, but still related to invasive species.

I went backpacking-style to New Zealand. When I arrived at the airport in New Zealand my backpack was inspected for seeds, mud, etc. My boots had some rocks wedged in the sole so the agriculture inspector took by boots to a sanitizer. The inspector cleaned my boots (which was fairly clean aside for those stray rocks) and let me through afterwards.

The guy that was in front of me though, he wasn't so lucky. His boots were covered in mud. His boots needed a special cleaning.

 

[goodtimes]

I never thought about border crossing. I could see it being a big hassle in a remote area to was a truck but they are only doing their jobs.

Back when I was in the military...the first stop we made every time we left the US was in Okinawa, where we off loaded the entire ARG, and washed every vehicle with a fire hose, followed by an agricultural inspection.....talk about a hassle!

 

[SWDesertTaco]

This is one issue that I continually struggle with. After traveling through so much country, even if I sprayed off my rig; those seeds still stuck.

One drawback about Tacos is that there are plenty of manufactured holes in the frame and the crossmember and I have continually been frustrated at my attempt to remove seeds from those holes and all the nooks and crannies under there. As well as the radiator, lots get trapped between the AC and radiator.

Unfortunately, I carry more seeds than I would like and I'm getting close to rigging up a mini rake or hoe that fits into those frame holes and using a shop vac to suck those seeds out after I pull them towards the hole with the mini rake.

On a side note regarding travel in NZ. It is because of their sanitizing that Giardia has only recently made it to some their of more accessible waters. They love their pristine waters and lands.

 

[77blazerchalet]

If clover and grass seeds are small & lightweight, you might have to consider vacuuming out your ventilation system as well. I'm amazed at how my VW spits out random dust and tiny seeds on those few occasions when I crank up the blower to position 4. Also, if the clover & grass seeds are yummy to little seed eating birds, or are basically airborne relocators, that exasperates the problem. Add that to the sheer numbers of unwashed cars, and it begins to look like washing your own truck isn't going to help. Plus, where do those washed seeds end up? Some seeds are built to last, ya gotta pulverize them beyond recognition to make sure they are no longer functional.

I'm a little lost on the concept of invasive plant species. The California poppy is considered invasive in many areas, it sure is a pretty flower, though. I figure all plants are native to the Earth, and it might be commendable for some to have an impressive range, which ensures their long term survival.

 

[77blazerchalet]

.. aren't We an invasive species?

I think so, this Valley of the Hot isn't fit for man nor beast. Will Tucson be going after English Sparrows next? Might be an easier target to accomplish, grass seed seems to magically sprout everywhere, even the cracks in the freeway...

 

[Co-opski]

I'm a little lost on the concept of invasive plant species. The California poppy is considered invasive in many areas, it sure is a pretty flower, though. I figure all plants are native to the Earth, and it might be commendable for some to have an impressive range, which ensures their long term survival.

The main premise behind the control of exotic and invasive species is that one species out competes other native and more sensitive species for the same limited resources. Example would be Kudzu Pueraria lobata

From the National Park Service:
An invasive species is one that displays rapid growth and spread, allowing it to establish over large areas. Free from the vast and complex array of natural controls present in their native lands, including herbivores, parasites, and diseases, exotic plants may experience rapid and unrestricted growth in new environments. Invasiveness is enhanced by features such as strong vegetative growth, abundant seed production, high seed germination rate, long-lived seeds, and rapid maturation to a sexually reproductive (seed-producing) stage.

Some of the known ecological impacts of invasive plants are summarized below, and include:
•reduction of biodiversity
•loss of and encroachment upon endangered and threatened species and their habitat
•loss of habitat for native insects, birds, and other wildlife
•loss of food sources for wildlife
•changes to natural ecological processes such as plant community succession
•alterations to the frequency and intensity of natural fires
•disruption of native plant-animal associations such as pollination, seed dispersal and host-plant relationships

Some exotics are domesticated and useful like corn and oats but do not pose a threat to local ecosystems. A noxious plant is a legal designation to a species that has been determined to be a major pest of agriculture ecosystems.

The one question that remains.... aren't We an invasive species?

I would say no. It would be natural selection and succession. Often we have an idea of an ecosystem as being a static environment with little change over hundreds sometimes thousands of years. We are mistaken. The environment is dynamic and always changing. With the mobility of humans and migratory animals it is speeding up the dominate takeover of a few well adapted species. It can only be described as Gods will for the planet.

With his expedition on the H. M. S. Beagle, C. Drawin pointed out that

It is the preservation of a functional advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild, and acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations and species diversity is a result of geographic isolation.

In conclusion wash your rigs if you want.:safari-rig:

 

[DesertRose]

What other tips would one have for the stop of these plants on our lands?

How many wash their trucks with this in mind? I only started recently.

This is a great thread, thank you for posting it, and thanks to all the serious discussion of what I think is a really difficult subject.

We live in the Sonoran Desert as well, and pass the area Goodtimes talks about (the edge of Saguaro National Park) every time we go to town - right through an area where buffel grass is rampant. You can see how the buffel grass is spreading out into our region a few miles every year, along the roads.

Buffel grass does change the face of the desert not just because it out-competes native species, but because it brings fire into an ecosystem that hasn't adapted to fire - it kills the keystone species, changing the system entirely.

Despite the fact we are ardent conservationists and like Goodtimes' girlfriend 'native nazis' when it comes to species (we've been known to help English sparrow chicks along to their great reward in the sky), we can't / don't wash our truck each time we come home.

I am not sure what the answer is - controlling the source probably. I hadn't heard they were using Roundup at Tumamoc.

As for humans being invasive - no, we're not invasive, we're successful - there are just too many of us. Humans evolved in wilderness, and have been part of nearly every ecosystem for millions or hundreds of thousands of years. There are many species, or races of species, that have been successful on nearly every continent. We just breed alot!

It's interesting to see areas where people still live like they have for thousands of years, in small numbers, sustainably. Usually this means their numbers have to stay small, their impact light, and their lifestyles adaptive to climate, local conditions, etc. Modern/urban humans are sedentary and thus our impact greater.

I think doing what we can to mitigate things like invasive plants is great - I'm impressed by the people here who want to do more.

 

[Co-opski]

I wondered why they lust after control of something that can't be controlled. I don't know if my question could (or will) be answered though...

This is from the PDF that was posted.

The risks of inaction.
Southern and Central Arizona will soon face recurring grassland fires, loss of our existing natural desert environment and costly economic impacts.

They list the major economic impact as tourism and that the palo verde saguaro communities that many come to see will be lost and turned into grassland and the new fire season would overlap the mild tourist season. They also list the prospect of frequent fires may discourage businesses and private citizens from choosing southern Arizona as a permanent destination further slowing the economic growth.

The idea of tourism and economy is a valid point. I have worked many jobs in the field of the tall and short grass prairies of the Midwest and there is very little tourism. Not only is tourism limited, but the overall population of that area is scarce. The grassland are a beautiful part of our landscape and some of my best memories are standing in the center of a section of land with the only roads making a grid of the 36 sections in that township and being the only soul around at 3 AM with a hard October frost underfoot.

Now back to some of the numbers. Grassland takes up ¼ of the land on the planet. In North America around the 100 meridian grasslands cover 264,000 sections/ square miles or 168,960,000 acres. Now the Sonoran Desert is very large it self but in no way can compare to the magnitude of the grasslands being only 85,937 square miles or 55,000,000 acres. I have never been to the Sonoran Desert but from what I have read it looks to be a very unique environment and a true gem in the respect to endemic flora and fauna.

I still think humans are an invasive species, in the not too distant past, did not white settlers come to the Americas to try to systematically kill off the native people? Poison blankets, anyone....?

I would still disagree, we are still genitically the same species Homo sapien as the First Americans. If what you are saying people only belong in the savana ecosystem of what is now Ethiopia.

I'll still do my part by reducing the spred of exotics and tip my hat to the land managers making the very hard decisions in cost vs. benefit vs. ecological impact of their exotic invasive mitigation.

Sorry for the long post rant over.

 

[Co-opski]

I do think that it is good to reflect on past trips and looking at the mud on your bike and truck is ok with me. I often look at my gear and think back to a place I've been.

it is being over run with people

I hear what you are saying but, I am an advocate for access, and I feel people are part of the natural world. We need good stewards in some of the last wild places for each of our preferred types of recreation. This almost gets into the motorized and non-motorized use debate. Each side needs to understand each other. With more use from "people" the land gets stressed harder and conflicts increase.

This case is caused by Man. Man is born of the Earth, and I believe whatever Man does is the natural way of things.

I agree 100 percent. Earth will prevail, but it will not always be the same earth we are used too. It will change, we will change it, we will have too make some choices on what we want to protect for the sake of preservation or for conservation.

 

[007]

There is a huge undertaking with Buffel Grass here in the Southwest. They just did Round Up spraying of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson. I don't quite understand how spraying poison is better for the eco system...poor little critters that have to injest that stuff.

I completely understand your concerns about herbicides however there is a ton of misleading beliefs about Roundup or Glyphosate. For one it isn't considered a poison by the EPA. It won't hurt any animals that eat sprayed foilage. Its very common for people to assume its a poison because one would naturally think that "if it kills that, it most be able to kill me" Its better to leave these debates to the toxicologists.

If your curious about what Glyphosate is or how it works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate

And: http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/content/products/productivity/roundup/gly_tox101_bkg.pdf

When Glyphosate is diluted with water to be sprayed it becomes virtually non-toxic. Basically you would die of drinking too much water before the glyphosate even began harming you. If you tried to harm yourself by eating vegetation that was sprayed it would be impossible to consume enough.

I've gone through the trouble of explaining this because herbicides may offer the only practical solution to an invasive species threat. If you notice that an area you frequent has a new species of plant, and that perhaps you put it there, maybe its your responsibility to get it out. I carry a book called "weeds of the west" that defines invasive species,(aka not beneficial) along with a small 3 pint sprayer that looks like this: http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=RLF-1985GAA
a pint of concentrated herbicide allows me to mix and spray plenty of noxious weeds.

I don't stop and spray every weed along the road, just the ones off the beaten path where I camp or frequent most often. I also target the species that are doing harm not just ones that "don't belong" But thats another debate.

The other option is pulling, but that only works if the plant is minus stolons or long rhizomes that can regenerate.